Oldham Athletic and Middlesbrough to meet for second successive season in Round 1 of the Capital One Cup

11 August 2015

Oldham Athletic will face Middlesbrough at SportsDirect.com Park for the second consecutive season in Round 1 of the Capital One Cup.

The opening day of last year’s competition saw the pair drawn against each other, and it was a comprehensive victory for the visitors that time.

Goals from Luke Williams, Grant Leadbitter and Kike secured Boro's place in Round 2, but Oldham will have an opportunity to turn the tables on their opponents on Wednesday night.

Head-to-head

Last season's Cup clash was the first meeting between Oldham and Middlesbrough for 19 years, and it was the former who enjoyed a healthy record against the North Yorkshire club prior to that.

Before the 3-0 defeat, Oldham had won five out of their six matches against them in the league, drawing the other. And it is the Latics who lead the overall head-to-head standings, with 21 victories to Middlesbrough's 19, and an additional 10 draws having taken place.

In League Cup meetings however, Oldham have never beaten Boro, following last year's result and a 4-2 second round loss back in 1970.

What's changed?

Oldham's current manager Darren Kelly is the third man to hold the post since the Capital One Cup Round 1 meeting a year ago. Lee Johnson was in charge for that fixture, but he departed the club in February to take charge at Barnsley. Dean Holden took the reins for the remainder of the last campaign, until Kelly arrived from his coaching role at Sunderland during the summer.

Contrastingly, Middlesbrough have the same man at the helm as they did when the pair met last season, Aitor Karanka. The Spaniard led the club to the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final in May, but they lost that match 2-0 to Norwich City. The club therefore remain in the second tier of English football, meaning they enter the competition in Round 1 once again, but have strengthened their squad over the summer, recruiting the likes of Stewart Downing and loan signing Tomas Kalas.

Solid starts

Both clubs began their 2015/16 league seasons in solid fashion, each taking a point from their respective games on the opening weekend.

Jonathan Forte rescued a point for Oldham as they came from behind to draw with Walsall in Sky Bet League 1, while Boro and Championship newcomers Preston North End contested a goalless stalemate at Deepdale.

League Cup record

Oldham's furthest venture in this competition came back in 1990, where they marched all the way to the Final at Wembley Stadium. They faced Nottingham Forest in the showpiece that day, and they were beaten by a solitary strike from Nigel Jemson, as Brian Clough's side lifted the trophy.

Middlesbrough, on the other hand, are one-time winners of the League Cup. Back in 2004, they beat Bolton Wanderers at the Millennium Stadium to claim their first competition triumph, having been beaten in back-to-back finals in 1997 and 1998.

Don't Miss it

We’ll be providing live match updates from all of the Round 1 games in the Capital One Cup on Twitter, via @CapitalOne_Cup.

Channel 5 is the new home for competition highlights, Capital One Cup Tonight, with an hour-long programme being broadcast at 11pm on Wednesday 12th August.